Blocking after ban: Kashmiri online activists reappear every time on virtual battle field

Srinagar: It seems that the contents of a report published recently in New Delhi-based DNA newspaper about the monitoring of social media in the Valley are cent percent true.

The report said, besides other things, that the government plans to set up a social media cell in Jammu with an office in Delhi to monitor all posts related to Kashmir on social media.

If all means all, then Kashmiri social media activists are not off the radar. One such social media user Mohammed Afaaq Sayeed has been “banned” some days ago to log on to his Facebook account. He regained his access to his account only after proving his identity to the social media site.

“I was unable to access my Facebook account for four days due to unjustified ban imposed by FB administrators on me. I was asked to prove my identity. Submitted my ID proof(s) to them. They kept me blocked unnecessarily. It was like a CRPF wala telling me, “card dikha” warna …(sic)” Afaaq wrote on his Timeline on Tuesday.

He received a number of comments on this post among which one said, “My 35 id’s (Facebook accounts) disabled from last 7 years (sic).”

Afaaq is a vocal critic of anti-Kashmir policies, an analyst, and a commentator on almost everything. His posts are hilarious as well as poignant. Sarcasm is his favourite sport. In fact, he has a one-word description in his Intro of his Facebook page: Sarcasm. With almost 5000 Facebook friends, Afaaq’s posts receive a good number of shares on different social media sites and elicit a lot of debate.

Facebook blocks a user’s access to his/her account in the following circumstances:

Posting content that doesn’t follow the Facebook Terms

Using a fake name

Impersonating someone

Continuing behaviour that’s not allowed on Facebook by violating our Community Standards

Contacting other people for the purpose of harassment, advertising, promoting, dating or other conduct that’s not allowed

“Mine was blocked because someone reported my profile as ‘Fake’. It can be after exhausting other options, my adversaries used the ‘fake’ pretence to make FB act against me,” Afaaq, who is an entrepreneur, gave details to Narrator.